Is Medication Always The Solution?

As soon as we have any kind of issue with our health, we automatically think of medication as the only or most effective solution, especially in Western countries. This is only becoming more prominent in recent times. But are we going down the right path?

At Times, It May Be Required

There’s no doubt that antibiotics were a life saving invention. Before, millions of people would die of relatively trivial infections that became more serious. The problem, they aren’t used appropriately, Studies consistently show a dose or two will adequately prevent infections, but antibiotics are often continued for several days unnecessarily. And sometimes we use the wrong type of antibiotic, or use them at times when they weren’t even needed, such as viral infections. Ultimately, the overuse of antibiotics is causing the bacteria to become resistant to them. If we keep going at this rate, we may find ourselves in a situation where none of our antibiotics are doing their job anymore, especially at times when their use may be a case of life and death e.g. serious infections in the elderly.

Insulin was another life saving medication that now allows type 1 diabetics to live much longer.

Someone at the end stage of life that cannot recover would possibly benefit from strong painkillers to keep them as comfortable as they can be in their final days.

Cancer treatments like chemo and radiotherapy are great options to have for those who want to go down that path.

But Is It Always Needed?

If we can correct something without relying on medication, surely we should, right? We’d certainly save the government a lot of money and have a much healthier population.

Type 2 diabetes is a condition that is caused by someone’s lifestyle choices. There is plenty of evidence to show we can prevent and reverse the condition using nutrition, exercise and lifestyle. So why do we automatically turn to Metformin and other medications?

If there's one condition that you can change without a pill, it's high blood pressure or, as doctors call it, hypertension. Take your pick: lose some weight, get more exercise, change your diet. They all work. If you're heavy, each two pounds of weight loss translates into a 1 mm Hg drop in systolic (the top number) and diastolic (the bottom number) blood pressure. Regular exercise can even lower your blood pressure if you don't lose weight. To be honest, all of this also applies to arthritis, whether it’s Rheumatoid or Osteo, though you may need to be more strategic with the type of exercise you do.

Quite often, people who start on one medication soon end up on multiple. This is because of side effects caused by the first one, which then require another medication to deal with. This is known as poly-pharmacy.

This is without mentioning the absolute worst harm of prescription drugs which doesn’t get mentioned enough - death! In fact, prescription drugs are currently the leading cause of death.

Weight Loss Medications

Everyone seems to be jumping on these, seeing them as a quick fix to shed the pounds while still being able to eat junk food. And while they do work if all you care about is what it says on the scale, they also cause muscle loss and side effects ranging from common gastrointestinal issues to pancreatitis, gallstone disease and even depression. Is this really worth the risk instead of just changing your diet and lifestyle which will not only help you lose weight but also make you feel better too? For life.

You can read more about these on my previous blog post.

My Post-Finasteride (PFS) Story

Almost 10 years ago I started taking the medication “Finasteride” for hair loss. Initially I didn’t notice anything different, but within a couple of months I started to notice more fatigue, feeling spaced out and slower thinking. I tried lowering the dose but nothing really worked. After several months of taking the medication I ended up fainting and that was when I decided enough was enough and stopped the medication. By this time I found myself with persistent hormonal related symptoms such as chronic fatigue, brain-fog, dizziness, tinnitus, insomnia, depression, some sexual & gut symptoms and more. My hormone levels were on the floor. I had Post-Finasteride Syndrome. After some quick googling I realised this seemed to be more common than what the pharmaceutical companies seem to be saying.

I took the usual medical approach to try to fix this but the best offering I got at the time was anti-depressants. I had so many symptoms that there was no way I could treat each symptom with a different medication, plus I wanted to actually get back my health, not just be reliant on a cocktail of drugs to feel somewhat normal. My extensive research over months led me to the only solution which had worked for many others with the same condition and what made perfect sense to me - strengthen the body, all of its systems and hormones through quality nutrition, exercise and lifestyle.

It may have taken years to achieve a full recovery for myself due to trial and error, but I saw improvements along the way, figured out what works best, and what doesn’t. I now have recovery protocol(s) which I have developed and which have also demonstrated positive improvements to PFS symptoms and measurable effects e.g. gut health.

What To Consider Instead

I’m not suggesting we eliminate all medications, but that we are more strategic in how and when we use them. Natural treatments like nutrition, exercise and lifestyle that are based on real science are more powerful than most people realise. This is especially true if a poor lifestyle has caused the issue, such as type 2 diabetes.

In an ideal world, we would have Nutritional Therapists and Health Coaches working alongside Medical Doctors so they can use the most appropriate treatment for each person, maybe even a combination treatment for some. Not only would this benefit the patient, but also help to reduce the huge cost to the National Health Service (NHS). In 2023/24, £20.6 billion was spent on medicines alone. A figure that can only rise, as we are becoming more reliant on these medications and creating poly-pharmacy.

If you’d like to get to the root cause of your health issues (such Post-Medication Syndrome or other male hormone issues) without having to rely on medications, I’d love to personally coach you through the whole process.

Click here to schedule a FREE discovery call.

This blog is produced using recorded personal information and has been compiled in good faith for educational purposes. It also includes reference(s) to other information provided by relevant organisations sourced via the internet and my related interpretation.  Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the above, I cannot accept liability for any unknown errors, omissions or misinterpretation of the information. 

The information provided is not a substitute for professional medical advice which can be sought from a medical professional or other healthcare provider.